The ability to accurately track and locate personnel can be valuable to a mission's success or failure. Mission commanders leading an emergency response team, for example, are often limited in the ability to determine where critical assets are located, including human assets that have been dispatched into the field. Certain technologies have been developed that can enable tracking of assets. These technologies are typically reliant on continuous radio frequency communications. For example, global positioning satellite (GPS) systems and other types of triangulation systems can be used to determine a location of an asset based on the timing of radio signals received at the asset location. The ability to track assets using radio frequency signals has greatly improved a commander's ability to track and locate desired assets.
However, in many types of emergencies, radio frequency communications can be spotty. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and earth quakes can often destroy power and communications infrastructure, thereby reducing the ability to use land based communications and radio frequency triangulation systems. Buildings and storms can impede radio frequency signals to the point where GPS systems can be useless. Thus, over reliance on tracking devices that rely on continuous radio frequency communications can actually impede progress in an emergency response when the tracking devices cease to function properly due to the environment of the emergency location.